Where It All Began
by hoddypeak
Summary: The Haddock family visits Old Berk on one of their sailing trips and they're being just adorable.
1. Chapter 1

**I graduated today so I decided to reward myself by writing some Haddock family fluff. **  
**Why are they so perfect?**

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It was a tradition of the Haddock family for them to go on voyages to spend some quality time together as a family. When that happened, New Berk was left for Valka to look after, and if Valka joined them, then Gobber took charge. Usually they only went on half-day trips because Zephyr and Nuffink were still very young and being on the sea was, after all, very tiring. No matter the amount of time spent together however, they were always a wonderful experience that somehow brought the family even closer together even though they thought that was no longer possible.

They had been to many places near New Berk, discovered many small islands and seen many different sea animals. On rare occasions, they even crossed paths with other sailors that were either Berkians or from some other island.

This time was different from many other voyages. Instead of just going where the wind on their sails took them, they had a destination and it was far from New Berk. They had already been sailing for four days, and both Hiccup and Astrid knew that it was only a matter of time that they would see the ruins of Old Berk. Neither of them knew how long it would exactly take to sail to their old home, for they had only done this journey on dragons, but the surroundings had started to give them both fragments of memories of their adventures with the gang when they were 18 years old; the towering rock formations on the water looked familiar and it felt as though the time had been put on pause around here. Everything seemed untouched.

"What was Old Berk like?" Zephyr asked as she leaned over the edge of the ship to take a better look at the sea underneath them.

"It was a beautiful place," Hiccup responded and instinctively moved a bit closer to his daughter in case she fell over the edge. "I am sure you would've liked it."

"Why can't I like it now?" she asked and looked at her father with her eyes that were always full of curious wonder.

Hiccup's mouth curled into a fond smile at the question. "Of course you can, it just looks very…different from what it used to be. Nobody has lived there for almost ten years."

It was clear on the little girl's face that it was difficult for her to understand how long ten years was, which wasn't a surprise – she was barely six years old herself.

Of course they had told their children many stories that had taken place in Old Berk; with Berkians having lived there for seven generations, there were quite a few tales to be shared. But it was difficult to convey the beauty of the place through words.

"Will Toothless and Stormfly be there?" Nuffink asked excitedly and took turns in looking at his mum and dad.

"No, sweetie," Astrid said softly. A wave of longing and sadness washed over her features, but luckily the kids weren't attentive enough to notice that. "They're living their lives in their own world, just like we do in our world."

Astrid and Hiccup shared a look. It had been almost six months since their first encounter with their dragons after over ten years. Ever since that day, Zephyr and Nuffink just wouldn't stop talking about dragons and how cool they were. Nuffink had announced proudly that when he was older, he would find the Hidden World and become the greatest Dragon Master in the whole of the archipelago, just like his father. Even after six months, the boy hadn't given up on his dream and he didn't miss a single chance to ask questions about Toothless and Stormfly.

At last they were on the shore of Old Berk. It was foggy around them and they couldn't see far ahead, but they could've recognised the docks anywhere. Hiccup felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness run through his veins. He hadn't found the chance to make this trip alone because his chief duties always kept him very busy, so it was the first time for him after ten years that he would be seeing his childhood home again. He didn't know what he was expecting. When he glanced at his wife over his shoulder, he saw her face was rather unreadable; she wasn't showing her emotions on the outside, but Hiccup knew that she was feeling the same way as he was.

"Alright, kids, we are here," Hiccup announced and earned two enthusiastic cheers from the little ones.

They docked the ship and Hiccup was the first one to hop off. Astrid lifted Zephyr and Nuffink up one at a time. Hiccup grabbed them by their armpits and lowered them on the wooden dock. It was remarkable how great a condition the dock was in; sure, the planks had turned greyish from being directly exposed to the sun for many years, and there were bird droppings everywhere, but other than that, it looked precisely how Hiccup remembered it as.

After their children were securely on the dock, Astrid got off the ship and helped her husband to tie it up on the sturdy, vertical planks. Zephyr and Nuffink were looking around frantically, probably wishing they could split themselves in half so that they could cover the whole of Old Berk faster. Being the kind kids that they were, they waited for their parents, although their impatient nature made them shift their weight from one foot to another, repeatedly.

When Hiccup and Astrid had finally tied up the ship steadily enough, the entire Haddock family walked off the dock and looked around. It felt strange to see their childhood home so deserted and so quiet, for life on Old Berk had always been busy because of all the dragons that first stole their sheep and yaks, and then began to inhabit the island.

The buildings looked abandoned and sad, and just like the dock the paint on them was weakened by the sun. They could still see where the Crimson Goregutter had swung its tail in the wrong place and knocked down a good chunk of the buildings in domino-effect. The view made Hiccup feel a mixture of nostalgia and melancholy.

They showed their children around; they visited by the buildings where they used to live, the Great Hall, Gobber's blacksmith workshop, and where the infamous Dragon Academy took place in. Hiccup described all sorts of dragons that lived on Old Berk in his impressive narrator voice that never failed to make Zephyr and Nuffink burst from exhilaration.

The kids didn't seem to mind the fact that the place looked exactly like it was abandoned several years ago. They didn't mind that there were old birds' nests on the buildings, or that some of the roofs had holes on them (had lightning struck them? Or had it been some bigger animal's doing? Hiccup couldn't tell for sure). The excitement of the little ones made both Astrid and Hiccup look at the place with whole new eyes – it no longer looked so sad, neither were their hearts filled with melancholia. It was simply marvellous how great an impact the high spirits of their children had on them.

"This place is gorgeous!" Zephyr told her parents with gleaming eyes. "It needs a little repairing, but I think I want to stay here."

"Me too! Can we, can we, can we?" Nuffink joined in and gave Mum and Dad the most pleading look they had ever had the fortune to witness.

Astrid couldn't stop the amused smile from spreading across her face, filling her eyes with fondness. She crouched in front of her kids and looked at them as she spoke: "Of course we can. Your friends will definitely miss you and you won't be having no more bowls of Uncle Gobber's delicious fish soup. And I guess here you won't be finding any use for the dragon wings that Dad has promised to make you, but I'm sure we will settle down."

The hesitation was written all over their faces now, which made Astrid smile widen even further. She knew she had pulled the right strings there.

"No dragon wings?" Zephyr asked quietly, clearly weighing whether her mother was being serious or not. Astrid shook her head no and replaced her smile with a serious look. The girl considered her options for a while before she spoke again: "I don't want to move here. New Berk is much better."

"Yea, I don't either," Nuffink agreed and crossed his arms across his chest with a stern look, as if to let his parents and big sister know that his decision was final and nobody could change his mind.

"Aw, that's a shame," Astrid told them, faking the sad tone in her voice. "Because your father and I here thought we'd stay forever."

"You did not!" they exclaimed in choir, eyes wide.

Hiccup decided to quit admiring the view before him and join in on the conversation. He, too, crouched next to Astrid and placed his left hand on Nuffink's shoulder as the boy was standing closest to him. "Yes, we did, we're going to be on our own from now on."

"We will feed on eels and yaknog," Astrid said and earned two loud 'ew's from her precious children.

"And we are going to sit by the fire every evening and talk about how much we love each other," Hiccup added and made a kissy face at Astrid.

That was too much for Zephyr and Nuffink, for they both jumped on their parents, sending them back first on the ground. Hiccup and Astrid burst out laughing as their children wrestled them with all their might.

"You are lying!" Zephyr exclaimed and started giggling, too, while sitting on her mother's stomach and trying to tickle her from the sides. Astrid surrounded to her little girl even though she could've easily stopped her, so she let her have her sweet revenge.

"Not at all," Hiccup assured but failed to sound convincing in between his laughter. He grabbed Nuffink by the waist and sat up himself, looking at his son with a beaming smile. Gods how much love he had for these three.

They sat there on the dusty ground for a while, just playing around and being the lovely family they were. At some point, Hiccup and Astrid told the two how they had found a secret, but a very dangerous way how they could turn themselves into Monstrous Nightmares, and how they were planning to set everything on fire. This the kids believed for a minute, until they grew suspicious again and accused their parents for lying. The entire so-called argument ended up with Zephyr and Nuffink being chased by their parents that had turned into fire-spitting dragons. When they caught them, they both grabbed them by the armpits, lifted them up and pressed their heads against their children's tummies and pretended to eat them, which made both Zephyr and Nuffink laugh hysterically.

When they had explored the rest of the island, they found a building that looked most fit for staying in for one night. They set their camp there and they spent the rest of the evening by an open fire, telling myths and legends about the first generation of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. Although no kissy faces were made at anyone during that evening, or no 'I love you's were said out loud, they all could feel just how much love there was floating in the air, and this was exactly what Hiccup and Astrid would call 'quality time as a family'.

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**I hope you liked it! In the next and final chapter they will visit the cove in which Hiccup befriended Toothless, so stay tuned!**


	2. Chapter 2

The following day dawned bright and sunny, though the sun seemed distant and the rays didn't grant much warmth. The air was quite chilly and the small amounts of frost on the grass made it clear the temperature had been below zero at night. The only sounds came from the breeze of the wind when it whispered through the trees and the leaves. Birds were either still asleep or simply gone; they were already a few weeks into Autumn and not many species chose to live in such conditions willingly.

Nothing of this was unusual to Hiccup and Astrid, though. It was the kind of morning they had got used to waking up to when they still lived on Old Berk. The winter had always made sure to remind the Berkians of its presence by creating a layer of frost almost every morning, starting from early August and ending mid-July, the actual winter taking place somewhere in between those months.

It was, however, unusual for Zephyr and Nuffink. New Berk wasn't nearly as cold, and the weather never went below zero until it was nearing December, just in time for Snoggletog. This had caused them to wake up with cold feet and chattering teeth, and they clutched their parents with all their might, refusing to let their parents' warm bodies leave the small bed that they all shared.

"Do we have to get up? It's soooo cold," Zephyr mumbled against her father's chest, her voice still sleepy. She had completely hidden herself underneath the thin blanket; only the hair on the top of her head was visible.

Hiccup chuckled and ruffled her auburn hair. He looked at Astrid who was leaning on her elbow and giving glances to the blanket that was currently hiding both their children. She shook her head in amusement and tried to sit up, though it turned out to be a bit challenging with Nuffink's arms wrapped around her and his weight pulling her back down. Eventually he let go of his mother and fell back on the bed.

"Don't you want to see around?" Hiccup asked and received two muffled responses that sounded a lot like 'no'. "Not even if it means an adventure?"

Nuffink pulled the blanket off his face and stared at his father, his eyes wide awake. "What kind of an adventure?" he asked in a low but excited voice.

Zephyr let go of Hiccup and she also peeked out from under the blanket. Half of her face was still under the cover, but her curious eyes made it clear that she was completely awake, too.

"That remains to be seen," their father said. Zephyr and Nuffink were both staring at him as though they were expecting him to reveal some details, but Hiccup didn't say anything.

"The sooner we get up, the sooner we will know," Astrid added and looked at their children whose attention was now drawn to her.

Nuffink was the first one to act. He threw the blanket over him and it landed on Zephyr, covering her up completely.

"Alright, I am ready," the boy said avidly. "When will we go?"

The corners of Hiccup and Astrid's lips curled up into a wide smile as they watched Nuffink whose face was full of excitement and desire to explore. Zephyr crawled out of the mass of blanket and her hair was messy and static.

"First we will need to eat," Astrid responded and got up from her sitting position. Hiccup fixed his eyes on his wife's back doubtfully. Astrid could sense it and she turned around to look at Hiccup, knowing very well what he had in his mind. She raised her eyebrow. "Are you doubting my breakfast skills?"

Hiccup tried to conceal his laughter behind a coughing fit. "Oh no, by no means. I could never forget those tasty and delicious meals that you've prepared along the years."

Astrid squinted her eyes and it was clear she'd have liked to say something but didn't do so because their children were in the same room with them. All of Berk knew that their Chieftess had two left hands when it came to cooking, but she had improved after Zephyr was born into this world. It was Gobber who did most of the cooking on New Berk, though, so Astrid never really had to worry about it.

She walked outside of the house to pick up the basket in which there was fish they had caught yesterday. Zephyr and Nuffink had insisted on being the ones to fish, with some assistance from their parents, and they had managed to catch six. They were oh-so proud of their achievement; pride was still written on their face when they saw their mother picking up the basket. Hiccup crawled out of the bed, Zephyr followed suit and they all offered their helping hand to Astrid, who gladly let her children do small tasks that gave them the feeling that they were contributing to the making of breakfast.

The morning went by quickly and the breakfast was exceptionally good. Nuffink told enthusiastically about a dream he had had last night about a sea monster with two green dragon heads, and when he went into further details it became obvious that the twins had been feeding Nuffink some absurd stories about Barf and Belch. The boy's mouth had been full of fish as he told about his dream, but both Hiccup and Astrid had gotten so used to their son's 'munching on food' language that they had been able to follow his not-so-well constructed explanation of the dream. Zephyr didn't have as much luck though, according to the confused and doubting looks she had given her little brother.

Astrid helped her daughter to put her hair in two pigtails with three hair ties on each, a style Zephyr preferred for an unexplained reason, and they were ready to begin their small adventure. It really was just going to be a walk-around on Berk to see the parts they hadn't visited yesterday, but it was all still very exciting for all of them. Nuffink was running around excitedly, trying to take in all the details, and sometimes stopping to point at something, such as fallen trees, and ask what had happened to it or if it was significant to Old Berk. All those questions that a curious, young mind would ask. Zephyr was more reserved and walked by her parents' side, clutching onto her sketch book that she had wanted to take with her on their adventure.

Hiccup didn't say it out loud, but Astrid knew what exactly they were looking for. Her husband had been talking about wanting to visit the cove for years, occasionally bringing it up in a conversation and then brushing it off saying that it really wasn't that important, or he didn't have time for it. But during those 15 years that they had been inseparable, Astrid had learned to read Hiccup like an open book which was why she knew why he wasn't talking that much and why he didn't return Nuffink enthusiasm about the smallest of things; he was nervous to be back in the place where it all had begun.

So many things had changed on Old Berk during those ten years that they had been gone. Trees were taller and bushier, plants had grown a lot and the grass was untamed. The paths that once were there were now concealed, and it seemed as though all those familiar landmarks were no more. But it was still Old Berk and their childhood home, so seeing the woods again gave both Astrid and Hiccup a rush of warmth and nostalgia, however changed the landscape was.

It didn't take them long at all to reach the part of the forest where the cove was supposed to be, for it was quite close to the village. Hiccup had visited it so many times when he was 15 that he would recognise the surroundings even after a hundred years.

"Where are we going?" Zephyr asked.

That gained Nuffink's attention too, who had found himself a stick that he used as a scythe to 'mow' the grass. He abandoned the stick and joined his parents and big sister, taking turns in looking at his mother and father with an expectant gleam on his features.

Hiccup looked down at his children and smiled warmly. "I am going to show you a place where I used to keep my most precious treasure when I was a boy."

They both gasped.

"A treasure?"

"What was it?"

"Was it silver?"

"Animal fur?"

"Animals?"

"Yaks!"

"Yaks are animals and I already said that."

"But you didn't say 'yaks' so that doesn't count!"

"Yes, it does!"

Astrid cut them off before they started fighting. "Alright, alright, kiddos, there's no need to get worked up about this. Your father will tell you eventually."

Hiccup nodded and gave his wife a grateful glance for sensing the storm before it started. He looked at Zephyr and Nuffink when he spoke; "That's right, you just need to have a bit more patience. We're almost there."

They indeed were really close to the cove now. Hiccup wondered whether the shield he had managed to get stuck in between the rocks that created the entrance to the cove was still there. He hoped that 16 years of being at the mercy of mother nature would've done the trick and it was no longer there, for it would be challenging for him and Astrid to get past it.

They reached the entrance. Hiccup was the first to walk between the rocks that left a narrow passage while Astrid walked behind him with the kids. They walked in excited silence; Zephyr and Nuffink couldn't wait to find out what that 'precious treasure' was, and their parents were anticipating to see how much the place had changed.

The shield was still there. It had been beaten a lot by rain and snow, and the wooden part was decayed. When Hiccup took a look at the side that was facing the cove, he could see the faded painting of a dragon on the wood. The metal that went around the edges of the round shield was still there, looking almost untouched. Hiccup smiled shortly; Gobber definitely knew how to pick the materials for weapons. Since the shield was in a very fragile condition it came off quite easily, granting a free passage to the cove.

"This place looks beautiful," Zephyr said almost instantly after they all were inside. Her fingers were ghosting on her sketch book as she looked at the waterfall and the pond. "What is it?"

"This is the place where Toothless and I became friends," Hiccup explained. "When I shot him down and freed him in the woods, he tried to fly away but couldn't because his tail was injured, so he was stuck in this cove."

Zephyr and Nuffink looked at their father spellbound.

"Really? Will he come here too?" Nuffink asked excitedly and moved his head around in a blur in search of Toothless.

"No, not this time," Hiccup said with a smile.

They moved deeper into the cove with Nuffink running ahead of them, accompanied by Zephyr this time. They both were curiously looking around and letting their imagination take them over. In no time they were already climbing on the roots of a massive tree, mimicking dragon sounds and granting themselves superior powers.

"I am a dragon that can fire lava and one shot reaches your home and burns it down!" Nuffink announced as he sat on a root that was covered in moss.

"But I am a beautiful dragon whose breath is made of ice and I can freeze your lava in a second," Zephyr said gracefully and closed her eyes, probably to imagine her dragon. "My dragon has a bow behind her ear and when she presses it, she becomes invisible."

"But my–my dragon can become invisible too!"

Astrid and Hiccup sat on the grass and watched their children play and neither could stop the fond smiles from spreading across their faces at the adorable view.

"Aren't they just the cutest thing in this world?" Astrid said happily and sighed. She leaned her head against her husband's shoulder and rested it there.

"They are," Hiccup agreed, and his smile spread even wider.

They sat there in silence for a while, just watching Zephyr and Nuffink immerse themselves in their own world by that tree and give their dragons the most absurd capabilities.

"How do you feel being here?" Astrid asked and raised her head from Hiccup's shoulder to look at him.

Hiccup tore his eyes off their children and looked at his wife. He then looked at their surroundings and took in the details. All the things that he remembered were there, and it felt as though nothing had really changed in those 16 years; everything had just grown older and looked ungroomed. Just like Hiccup. He could still perfectly envision the moments he shared with Toothless in this place, but not everything was the way he remembered them as. The pond had definitely grown larger and the trees were taller and there was at least twice as much moss all around the cove.

"Happy," he answered honestly. "I know this place would've always bothered me at the back of my mind had I not visited it."

Astrid lightly snorted. "Sometimes you do have too much going on in that head of yours."

"I know, I know," he replied and waved his hand dismissively. "Anyway, I am happy to be here with the most important people in my life. I don't know how I would've handled it if I had come here alone."

Astrid reached out to place a quick peck on Hiccup's cheek and they looked at each other for a short while until their attention was drawn to their children that were running towards them, carrying something in their hands.

"Look! We found flowers!" Zephyr said excitedly and stretched out her arm to show them the white flowers she had picked up. "It's so cold here but they're still alive! Mum, can I put them on your hair? They would look so pretty on you!"

Astrid laughed heartily at the enthusiasm her girl showed over the flowers and she couldn't possibly say no to that. Zephyr ran up to her mother and began to place the flowers in her hairdo, concentrating on the task really hard. Nuffink gave his flowers to his father and Hiccup took them with a big smile on his face. The boy sat on his father's lap and leaned against his chest as he watched his sister work with the flowers. The interested and confused look on Nuffink's face was so adorable that Hiccup couldn't stop himself from planting a kiss on top of his son's head.

Astrid spent the rest of the day with the flowers in her hair and Zephyr was incredibly proud of her work. When it finally was time for them to head back after the kids showed signs of needing some sleep, Astrid and Hiccup piggy-backed them all the way to the village. On the way, both Zephyr and Nuffink fell asleep on their parents' backs, tired from all the new things they explored today and running around like headless dragons.

"Looks like it's going to be an early night for us today," Hiccup commented in a low voice and looked at Nuffink who has fast asleep on Astrid's back. There was drool coming out of the boy's mouth.

Astrid glanced at Zephyr and was greeted by a very similar view. The corners of her lips curled up into a smile and she looked at Hiccup. "Am I becoming old since the thought of that is making me really excited?"

"Am I supposed to answer that honestly?" her husband asked, raising his eyebrow and flashing his teeth.

Astrid rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue because it was the only thing she could do with both her hands being busy carrying Nuffink. Hiccup couldn't suppress the laughter that bubbled up within him, which fortunately didn't wake up the kids.

At least they were becoming old together, so there was that.

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**I feel nothing but love for this family :')**  
**Thank you so much for your lovely reviews on the first chapter! I hope you liked this one too, please let me know if there are any HTTYD one-shots you'd like to see me write!**


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